MRI is a powerful tool for assessing muscle disease. There are four main patterns seen on MRI of muscle: distribution, size/shape, T1 signal, and T2 signal. Increased T1 signal indicates fat or hemorrhage. Increased T2 signal shows edema. Common findings include patchy or diffuse fat/edema, atrophy, enlargement. Distribution patterns provide clues to specific diseases. For example, inflammatory myopathies typically cause symmetric edema in non-adjacent muscles while compartment syndrome causes edema between adjacent muscles. MRI is useful for diagnosing and monitoring muscle diseases.